


Keeping Watch

by Mareel



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Ensemble Cast, Episode Related, Episode: s02e03 Minefield, Injury, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-06
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-28 09:58:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/673124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mareel/pseuds/Mareel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Malcolm's secret is safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keeping Watch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Smith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smith/gifts).



> This takes place a few weeks after the events of _Minefield_ and makes reference to that. It is Jonathan's voice, with recollections of a conversation with Travis Mayweather about the mission Travis and Malcolm had carried out. This is prior to any acknowledged relationship between Jonathan and Malcolm.
> 
> Inspired by prompts provided by Mr Smith for a 2012 Christmas fic exchange.

 

This is becoming a habit… my sickbay vigils at the bedside of my tactical officer. Phlox assures me he will recover, will be – as he himself would put it – _fine_. I need to see that for myself. 

I’ve stopped pretending that it’s a matter of the Captain’s concern for his officer. I’d visit any of my injured crew in sickbay, but I wouldn’t pull up a chair and spend the night waiting for them to regain consciousness. 

Malcolm nearly drowned today. 

That would be terrifying enough no matter who it was, but it was only a month or so ago that Malcolm confided in me about his aquaphobia. Pinned to the hull by a live mine, he told me of the uncle who shared that fear, but overcame it at the end to save his crewmates on a damaged submarine. And died there.

Now Malcolm nearly died in rescuing four colonists trapped in a flooding underground shelter.

___________________________

The distress call was conveyed by a cargo ship pilot – one of those drone-like vessels with a two-man crew and no way to go the surface of a planet except in emergency escape pods. A colony on a planet a few light-years away was experiencing severe weather shifts, possibly associated with rapid climate change. T’Pol’s analysis suggested that the situation was only going to worsen, and the colonists would need to be evacuated as soon as possible.

Apparently this was a settlement of ex-boomers. Travis has heard stories about some boomer ships where disagreements led to the exodus – voluntary or otherwise – of part of the crew. Their fate was sometimes never learned; possibly they settled on marginal planets like this one. 

The weather conditions made landing precarious. The rain was torrential and the winds unabating. We landed one shuttlepod at a time, keeping the other in reserve for emergency backup. Twenty-eight colonists were evacuated to _Enterprise_ , but as the last of them boarded Shuttlepod Two, another man ran toward it, waving his arms. His family was trapped by rising water in their cavern home – two young children and his wife, expecting another child any day. None of them knew how to swim. Ensign Mayweather was piloting that shuttle, and confirmed to Malcolm that this was a common situation with boomers who’d spent their entire lives on their freighters. Travis himself swims well enough to have passed the Starfleet training courses, but isn’t an especially strong swimmer. Nevertheless, he and Malcolm headed for the cavern. 

I’m sure Malcolm has never mentioned his aquaphobia to anyone but me.

___________________________

According to Travis, the water was chest deep and rising in the entry tunnel, and they were swimming before they reached the slightly higher living quarters. The family was huddled on a mattress – the woman heavily pregnant, the children clinging to her.

Travis had nothing but praise for the way Malcolm handled the situation. 

‘Captain, Lt. Reed immediately took charge of the situation, and reassured the woman that they’d all get out safely. She was pretty upset, begging us to get the children out first. I picked up the little girl and told her to hang onto me since we’d have to swim. Malcolm led the older boy to the doorway where water was already starting to seep in. Promising the mother that he’d be back for her, Malcolm shifted the child to a rescue hold, told him to hold his breath if the water started to get too deep, and headed for the entry tunnel. I was right behind him.

‘He got out okay with that little boy, reuniting him with his dad. It took me a little longer to get out… but we made it. I hit my head on the cavern roof trying to avoid having to swim underwater. Malcolm said it was bleeding, but you know head wounds, sir. It probably looked a lot worse than it was.’

I remember noticing the neat bandage on Travis’ forehead, glad he found time to get it treated after the rescue operation. Though I know it hasn’t been long since the last time, I check on Malcolm again. But there’s been no change, still no sign of his waking. 

Ensign Mayweather told me he’d offered to go back in for the last colonist, but apparently Malcolm wouldn’t hear of it, and plunged back in himself. Travis had been worried about him going alone.

‘I swear I don’t know how Malcolm thought he was going to get that woman out of there by himself. I followed him in, but was feeling a little disoriented and not swimming as strongly as I should have been. Malcolm must have been swimming like a bat out of hell to get in there as fast as he did. I met him about halfway to the living quarters, on his way back out. The woman easily outweighed him, and she appeared to be barely responsive. He was struggling to keep her head above the water, so I got my arms around her and began pulling her toward the entryway. I assumed Malcolm was following… but he wasn’t.’

Travis then went back in to search for him. When Shuttlepod Two failed to answer a hail from _Enterprise_ , we sent down the other shuttle, with Phlox aboard. They arrived in time to see Travis performing CPR on Malcolm. Phlox was able to resuscitate him, but as he told me… it was a near thing. 

Travis didn’t know why Malcolm hadn’t been able to swim out once relieved of the burden he was carrying. I have my ideas, but Malcolm’s secret isn’t for me to share with him, or with Phlox, or anyone else. I can only imagine the fear he was fighting as he dove back into the cold water to rescue that pregnant woman. 

I mentioned that he’d saved four colonists. She went into labor on the shuttle flight… her son was born here in sickbay. Mother and child are both doing well.

___________________________

I reach out once more to touch Malcolm’s hand, resting so still at his side. His hands are always in motion, playing across his console, tinkering with a weapon… The stillness scares me and I need to reassure myself. This time his eyes flutter open at the touch. His voice cracks as he manages a single word. “Captain…” I barely hear it – his hand has closed around mine, squeezing hard. I move closer to him and meet his eyes.

“You’re fine, Malcolm… everyone is fine. Including a healthy baby boy who shares your name. It’s the first thing his mother asked Phlox after he was born… what your name was.” 

Malcolm’s eyes close again for a long moment before he finds his voice. “So sorry, Captain. I had a moment of panic… couldn’t find my way to the surface. All I could think about was Uncle Archie… the _Clement_ , you know…

I squeeze his hand. “I know, Malcolm. And there’s no _sorry_ here. You saved them all. And Travis thought fast enough to go back in for you. Everyone is fine…” I can finally add myself to that list now. 

His eyes are still troubled. He reaches for me to pull me closer. “Does everyone know now… about me, about my fear…?”

I touch his cheek lightly. Maybe I shouldn’t, but his trust makes me push past my fear of how he might respond to the gesture. “No one knows. You’re a hero, in their eyes and in mine.”

His eyes clear, and he smiles. “I don’t need to be a hero, sir… just not to disappoint… _you_.”

I whisper, sure he will hear. “You never have… and never will, Malcolm.”

 


End file.
